Now this isn't a new story, you've most likely heard it before. It came to my attention again recently because my son bought me a book about it.He knows I love success stories and people who think differently.
First though, I'll ask you a question: Would you swap/exchange the red paper clip on the left for the house on the right? Yes?
The story, as you may have by now guessed, is about Kyle MacDonald who did just that. He set out to trade a red paperclip for a house.
Kyle started his dream by writing: 'This red paperclip is currently sitting next to my computer. I want to trade this with you for something bigger or better, maybe a pen, a spoon, or perhaps a boot. If you promise to make the trade I will come and see you, wherever you are, to trade. So if you have something bigger or better than a red paperclip, email me.
P.S. I'm going to make a continuous chain of 'up trades' until I get a house.'
To cut a long story short he exchanged the paperclip for a fish pen and then, after a total of 14 trades, he finally achieved his goal - a house at 503 Main Street, Kipling, Saskatchewan.
The journey, or adventure as he likes to call it, took him from July 12 2005 until July 12, 2006.
This sort of story always makes me enthusiastic about the power of the Internet and the possibilities it holds to accomplish all sorts of dreams and ambitions.
Kyle MacDonald recorded his story, as he traded, on a blog. Just a normal Blogger blog like this one. In the book he even admits, "My website design skills are pretty hack."
His blog was initially only getting about 30 hits a day, even after he had done a few trades. But then the website Boing Boing, which calls itself a directory of wonderful things, picked up on the story. By 8 a.m. in the morning his counter shot up over 30,000 hits! Suddenly he was getting two people a second visiting his blog.
But that wasn't all. Also at 8 a.m. CBC, the Canadian broadcaster phoned him wanting an interview. And from then on, all that day, all hell broke loose. He had calls from newspaper reporters, radio DJ's, agents, publishers, website developers and so on.
Again this shows what can happen if you dare to think differently and actually follow a dream.
Kyle writes a little on this theme, cliches included:
'Why complain when you can do something about it? If you think you can't do something about it, then you can't. Yes, I'm sorry to say it, but if you are certain that it is impossible, then it is. If you change your mind and have confidence in your idea, just remember that it might not be as easy as you expect. You might lose some sleep and have to make tough decisions. It might not even pan out as you expect. But it is possible. But most of all, please think of the positives to your situation. Complainers are bad enough but earplugs aren't that comfortable, either.'
A red paperclip turned into an adventure which resulted in a new house within one year.
It's good to dream and then try to make the dream come true, especially on the Internet. It is, of course, a lot easier though to roll over in bed, and carry on complaining about life in general.
The last time I looked at Kyle's website he'd had 7,587,951 visitors
The book: One Red Paperclip
Had any good dreams recently?
Good luck,
Mike.
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